Lean & green: Matcha Source brings the tea revolution to Los Angeles

Alissa White is on a one-woman mission to lead the American matcha revolution. The founder and owner of tea brand Matcha Source first began her love affair with the bright green elixir from Japan over a decade ago, while living in Manhattan.

Following the success of Matcha Source’s first pop-up store in New York, White proceeded to set her sights on the West Coast. Matcha Box in Los Angeles is the culmination of several years of hard graft from the team behind the original location.

The company motto is ’from the mountain-top to the counter-top’, and the store’s interior has been designed with this idea in mind. The pale colour palette and minimalist decor means that the vibrant green tea takes centre stage. The store’s counter has a custom made rail that barely separates the staff and customers, while the centrepiece is a tea ’theatre’, where the ceremony of preparing the matcha becomes a social ritual for everyone to be involved in.

White has also been experimenting with a few different food products, including pastries and toast with matcha butter, and she even has a signature line of matcha tea bowls in the works. Watch this space.